Turner Business

CSU's Spring Semester 2025 Welcome Back gathering is set for Thursday, January 9, from 12:30 pm through 1:30 pm. This in-person only event will be held in the Cunningham Conference Center, where a light lunch will be provided to attendees. An update on CSU's Campus Culture Assessment will be presented along with other news and notes for the new year. CSU's Office of Strategic Communication + Marketing will be providing m ore information following our post-holiday return to campus in January.

Attention local business owners and entrepreneurs. As we approach a new year, now is the perfect time to ensure your business is set up for success. Join us for the Columbus Chamber's Business Builder Series workshop titled,  "Refresh and Refocus: Updating Your Business Plan for Success." This workshop will help you to i dentify areas for improvement in your current plan, a lign strategies with your goals for Q1 and beyond, and g ain actionable insights to stay competitive in 2025.  Whether you're gearing up for growth, navigating new challenges, or sharpening your focus, this session will equip you with the tools and inspiration to hit the ground running in 2025. The workshop is being f acilitated by the UGA Small Business Development Center in Columbus.  Register Today to start the year strong. We look forward to seeing you there.  Chamber Partner's receive a special ticket price of $25 per attendee (regularly $45).  Scholarships are also available. Contact As...

The Turner College's next visit by AACSB is still a few years. However, Turner Business wanted to share some information regarding the current progress of the College's research portfolio for that visit. The table below provides a look at the Turner College's journal publications portfolio, at least as it stands now. As indicated there, the organization has produced 47 journal publications since the start of 2023, which is the first year AACSB will consider on its next visit to CSU. Of these 47 journal publications, 11 appear in A-level journals while 16 appear in B-level journals. Thus, 57.4% of the Turner College's journal publications portfolio so far is represented by B-level or higher-rated journal publications. The 11 publications in A-level journals mentioned above include American Behavioral Scientist (SAGE), American Business Review (U New Haven Press), Empirical Economics (Springer), Evaluation Review (SAGE), Information Systems Frontiers (Springer), Int...

This past Friday the TSYS School c elebrated the success and graduation of members of Cohort 10 of its cybersecurity Nexus program. Below is a message from the School: "We proudly celebrate the incredible accomplishments of Cohort 10 of the Cybersecurity Nexus Program. Watching our students grow, thrive, and achieve their dreams is the most rewarding part of what we do.  Over the past year, these determined individuals have poured their time, energy, and passion into developing the skills needed to excel in the ever-evolving field of cybersecurity. Their dedication and hard work have truly paid off, and we couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead in their careers.  Through our partnership with CyberSkills2Work, we’ve provided hands-on training, industry-relevant certifications, and mentorship to prepare them to meet the critical demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals. Cohort 10 is leaving equipped to make a significant impact, not only in their workplaces but also in ...

New research by Turner College professor of finance Gisung Moon and his colleagues Doug Waggle of the University of West Florida and Hongbok Lee of Western Illinois University delves into the implications of incorporating Social Security as an asset in investment portfolios alongside stocks and bonds. As Moon and his co-authors assert, by treating Social Security as a bond-like asset, portfolio allocations are influenced, leading to higher initial investments in stocks that gradually decrease as retirees grow older. The study, which appears in the current issue of the Journal of Financial Planning , underscores the significance of factoring in Social Security when making retirement investment decisions, as it can impact risk and return profiles. According to Moon, "Financial planners can glean valuable insights from this research to better guide clients in retirement planning, considering variables such as gender, marital status, life expectancy, and risk tolerance." Moon et...

The third edition of Turner College economist Frank Mixon 's textbook, Economics and Finance for Leaders , recently published. This edition replaces the previous one, which published in 2022. In speaking with Turner Business, Mixon explained that the new edition contains additional material across several of its chapters, including new discussion in Chapter 2 ("Comparative Advantage and International Trade") of specialization across running backs in the NFL and how that relates to the concept of comparative advantage and financial returns to labor effort. Additions were also made in Chapter 4 ("Economic Surplus and Market Efficiency") to the textbook's discussion of how, through two-part pricing, retailers might capture consumers' surplus. In Chapter 7 ("Games and Economic Behavior") the new edition of the textbook includes discussions about Thomas Schelling's famous focal points experiment and why Auburn University does not have sorority h...

The Turner College management information systems professor Jennifer Pitts was recently elected to serve a two-year (2025-2026) term on the board of directors of the Project Management Institute. Pitts joins the board as a Director-at-Large along with other new members, Aundrea Madden and William Lindsey.  The Columbus Georgia Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI) is recognized as a dynamic organization of professional project managers dedicated to serving the business and education of its area of operation through the advancement of project management. The Chapter provides a forum for professional project managers to promote the principles and mission of the PMI through networking with other project managers, sharing project experiences, providing and receiving training, and supporting project managers in their certification efforts. The Chapter area of operation includes the city of Columbus, GA, and surrounding areas. LaGrange, GA, borders the area to the north, Mont...

CSU is set to hold f ive graduation-related ceremonies on December 12 and 13 that will celebrate the 1,007 Columbus State University students comprising its Fall 2024 graduating class. The festivities will include three ceremonies throughout the day on Friday, marking the university’s 128th commencement exercises.  These events, all hosted on the university’s Main Campus, include the following: Thursday, December. 12 1:00 p.m., ROTC Commissioning Ceremony, Cunningham Conference Center 6:00 p.m., Graduate Hooding Ceremony, Frank G. Lumpkin Jr. Center Friday, Dec. 13 9:00 a.m., College of the Arts and D. Abbott Turner College of Business & Technology Commencement Ceremony, Frank G. Lumpkin Jr. Center 12:30 p.m., College of Letters & Sciences Commencement Ceremony, Frank G. Lumpkin Jr. Center 4:00 p.m., College of Education & Health Professions Commencement Ceremony, Frank G. Lumpkin Jr. Center Thursday night's graduate hooding ceremony will include Turner College MBA and...

TSYS School Director Rania Hodhod recently accompanied her students on a trip to the Atlanta offices of Microsoft. As she explained to Turner Business , " This incredible opportunity allowed my students to see firsthand how a global leader in technology operates, from their innovative work environment to their cutting-edge solutions. They gained valuable insights into the tech industry, learned about the various career paths in Microsoft, and had the chance to network with professionals who shared their expertise and experiences." Hodhod's  students left inspired and motivated to pursue their goals in tech. This trip was a wonderful reminder of the power of real-world experiences in shaping the future of our students. " A heartfelt shoutout to Susan Hrach for creating the Field Trip Grants [that made] these invaluable experiences possible for our student," Hodhod added.

Sliding window aggregation, which extracts summaries from data streams, is a core operation in streaming analysis. However, real-world data streams often involve out-of-order data and exhibit burst data characteristics, which pose performance challenges to these sliding window algorithms. To address this challenging issue, a new study by TSYS School computer scientist Yi Zhou  and colleagues Jianjun Li, Yuhui Deng, Jiande Huang and Qifen Yang of Jinan University, along with Geyong Min of the University of Exeter,  proposes Gecko - a novel sliding window aggregation algorithm that supports bulk cache eviction. According to the study, set to appear in a future issue of IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering ,  Gecko leverages a granular-based eviction strategy for various bulk sizes, enabling efficient bulk eviction while maintaining the performance close to that of in-order stream algorithms for single evictions. For large data bulks, Gecko performs coarse-gra...

Next month CSU  will welcome Shannon Campbell as its new provost, executive vice president and chief academic officer. Currently the dean of fine and applied arts at Appalachian State University, she brings three decades of academic leadership in higher education and industry experience in corporate communications to the role.  “I’m thrilled to welcome Dr. Campbell to Columbus State at such an exciting time. Her impressive background—especially in developing creative academic programs and stackable credentials—will help us continue to reshape our students’ education experience. We want to be a destination of choice where students can excel, grow as individuals and launch successful careers after graduation," explained CSU President Stuart Rayfield.  “I’m most excited about joining the leadership team at Columbus State University because of the close alignment between the university’s stated mission, vision and values and my own. I was deeply moved by the sense of communi...

This semester, 24 students from our Cybersecurity Nexus Program (Cohort 12) have passed their CompTIA Network+ certification, with many achieving scores above 800 points.  This incredible accomplishment speaks volumes about the tenacity, leadership, dedication, and expertise of our faculty who pour their knowledge and care into preparing students for these exams. The hard work and persistence of our students also shine through, proving they are ready to tackle any challenge in the cybersecurity world.  We’re incredibly proud of these future cybersecurity leaders, and this achievement is just one of many milestones on their journey to success.  If you’re looking for motivated, talented individuals to join your team, look no further—our students are ready to take on the next challenge.

The Fraser Institute’s 2024 Economic Freedom of North America report was released today. According to Dean Stansel, one of the report's authors, "Of the four largest states, Florida is 3rd and Texas is 5th, while New York is again 50th and California is 49th. Across North America, the least-free quartile of jurisdictions (including Canada and Mexico) saw real income decline by 13% over the past 10 years, compared to a 29% increase for the most-free quartile." According to details in the report, Georgia is among the most free areas of North America, as are our neighbors Tennessee, Florida and North Carolina. Although not as free as Georgia, our neighbors Alabama and South Carolina are among the top half of states/countries in North America in terms of economic freedom.

The  National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies (NICCS) website recently featured the work of the TSYS School's  Patrick Aiken , Director of the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity. That feature is posted below: The National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies (NICCS) website is a powerful resource for college professors to use to help students navigate the sometimes-overwhelming world of cybersecurity studies. Professor Patrick Aiken of Columbus State University uses the resources on NICCS to support his students. Check out his story below and learn from him and some of his class members about how NICCS can help students with their studies and launch careers in cybersecurity.  When he retired from a career in the Information Technology industry and began work at his alma mater Columbus State University as a professor and director of the school’s TSYS Center for Cybersecurity, Professor Aiken quickly realized that a lot of students were interested in...

New research by TSYS School computer science professor Rania Hodhod , Turner College management professor Kirk Heriot , and TSYS School graduate students Md. Nurullah , Helle Friis and Walker Smith  moves beyond anecdotal evidence to uncover deeper insights into entrepreneurial decision-making by  employing artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) in order to analyze feedback from 100 entrepreneurs. By processing large datasets, the study, which appears in the current issue of Electronics , identified patterns and correlations that provide valuable perspectives on the evolving landscape of entrepreneurship, with implications for education, policy, and practice. This project is the latest collaboration between TSYS School and Turner College faculty, and involves two distinguished chair holders in Hodhod, who holds the Rothschild Chair in Business Leadership, and Heriot, who holds the Crowley Chair in Entrepreneurship.    

The 2024 class of Leadership Columbus recently dropped by for a visit to the TSYS Center for Cybersecurity. The group heard from all of the CSU deans, some of the administrative vice presidents, several department chairs, Center Director Patrick Aiken , and others about much of what Columbus State University offers to our students and our community. We offer amazing programs, plays, concerts, sporting events, and the one-of-a-kind cybersecurity Nexus program.

The third edition of Turner College economist Frank Mixon 's textbook, Principles of Microeconomics , recently published. This edition replaces the previous one, which published in 2022. In speaking with Turner Business , Mixon explained that the new edition contains additional material related to human capital theory, as it discusses research indicating that physical attractiveness has been found to boost the earnings of residential real estate brokers. Additions were also made to the textbook's discussion of comparative advantage. On this topic Mixon included discussions about the performance and pay associated with different types of running backs in the NFL and whether power hitting or pitching was Babe Ruth's comparative advantage. In the chapters on demand and supply, the textbook includes the results from classroom experiments concerning the market demand for Apple iPods and the overall market for extra credit points. In the chapter on production and costs, Mixon...